Not Boring Yet

NotBoringYet is officially moving to my new website www.matthiasroberts.com. From now on all of my blogging will be done at my new website. Please note that you will have to re-activate your email subscription to my new blog by clicking here. Thank you and I'm looking forward to seeing you at my new location!

-Matthias

We learn something every day, and lots of times it's that what we learned the day before was wrong.
-Bill Vaughan

I for one was wrong. If you refer to my previous post, you'll remember that I discussed some information about a friend of mine and a mother in the homeschooling group I used to belong to. The information I was basing my discussion on was wrong. It had been passed through multiple people until it got to me and the version I heard was different from the original version. It reminds me of what happens when one plays the game of telephone.

The mother didn't say that my friend is no longer welcome in her house. In fact, what she was attempting to portray was the exact opposite. I received an email from the mother and in it she said "I would welcome (friends name) with open arms. In fact, I would love to have time to sit with him, over a cup of tea, and catch up." In light of this new information, I would like to issue a formal apology to the people that my words affected. While I know the majority of my readers haven't an inkling of an idea of who I'm talking about, there are a select few who my words hurt. I am sorry. From now on, I will do a better job of verifying facts before I write.

Finally, while some of the information I based my blog on is untrue, the overall principle of the blog is still valid. While the example I used did not actually happen, there are still people out there who do not welcome gay people into their houses. That is not right.

-Matthias

"I know they'll bury me before they hear the whole story."
-Jennifer Knapp from the song "Inside" on her new record Letting Go

Today a friend of mine sent me an e-mail containing a link to this article. I excitedly opened the website seeing that it was about Jennifer Knapp - a singer who I was a moderate fan of when she was in the prime of her Christian music career several years ago. Jennifer Knapp is coming back onto the music scene with the release of her new record Letting Go set to drop in May. The article also revealed something else: Jennifer Knapp is gay. Miss Knapp says in an interview "For many people who buy Christian music or have been familiar with me and my writings as a person of faith, I felt like it [coming out] was the honest thing to do." She goes on to say "I would rather be judged before God as being an honest human being. If I am in any way unpleasing in his sight, I can only hope and pray that he gives me the opportunity to find who I am supposed to be."

The story of Miss Knapp's coming out also hits close to home. Several days I ago I received a text from one of my closest friends. He told me that one of the mothers in the homeschooling circle that my family belonged to several years ago had just found out that one of our friends is gay. To be honest, I had had suspicions for awhile about my friend's sexual orientation, and the news that it was out didn't come as a surprise to me. However, what my friend told me next did come as a surprise. The mother who had just found out declared that our gay friend is no longer welcome in her home. My mouth dropped.

These two incidents, Miss Knapp's coming out and the mother's reaction to my friend's orientation, spurred on my thinking about an issue that I've been thinking about for years: homosexuality and Christianity. Here are some conclusions that I've reached: I believe that throughout the Bible homosexuality is presented as being a sin. I believe that God is not pleased with any homosexual relationship, but I also believe that God loves and still shows grace to people who are in those relationships. I believe that a person can be gay and still be a Christian. I believe that homosexuality is not a choice or a decision, but a result of many factors; however, I believe that living a gay lifestyle is a choice - meaning that there is a distinction between having homosexual attractions and being gay. I'm not going to change my mind about these things.

I have to say that I highly respect and admire Jennifer Knapp for her bravery. I for one am going to continue to support her work, even though I do not agree with her lifestyle. She has reconciled her faith with her attractions, and it is not my place to judge or even comment. It is between her and God.

I know for a fact that God has not said to Miss Knapp that she is no longer welcome in his house.

-Matthias

This was sent to me by the father of one of my friends who read my previous post, "Piss Christ."

Well, I drove from Matagalpa to Jinotega before I wrote anything... I think I've got a good fatherly response to a post made by Matthias Roberts and then linked by John Rutledge.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=305238883446&id=1469817809&ref=mf

Love you guys. Keep on thinking and more than that, put them thoughts into action.


Very good thoughts and they were very well stated.

If I understood it correctly Matthias Roberts is saying (and you are confirming his ideas by posting the link) that we should get out of our ivory towers and pristine chapels to touch a hurting and dying world. We should touch the lives of liberal leftist revolutionaries and radical right-wing legalists, fornicators fallen from grace and debtors that cannot pay what they owe. We should help the helpless with chalkboards and roofs, not be afraid to be seen with the prostitute or hug the dirty smelly drunk, again. We need to heal broken and hurting marriages and relate with corrupt , self-centered businessmen and government officials; we should be patient with the rebellious and generous with those that ask and ask again and take advantage of one's kindness. We should love even though we have been abused, hated and mistreated. We must shine the glory of God in word, deed and power wherever we are. We must be light in a dark world. The good news is, darkness cannot overcome the light.

“God thrown in human waste, submerged and shining”

1 John 1:5 "...God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

Even though Jesus was tempted [indicating the possibility to sin] in every way as we are and even though he was willing to relate with and “minister to” the dirtiest of the dirty (according to our measure-the sh-t of the world), sin didn’t contaminate Jesus until on the cross. He remained holy. Only on the cross did “he that committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth” bare “our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness.” (1 Peter 2:12, 24) In this moment of time and space “God made (Christ) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:20)

Holy and pure Jesus became sh-t for us so we could become holy and upright as he is by the power of God in us through the Holy Spirit so we can shine in the darkest and dirtiest places that exist in the world (which may actually be in clean and sanitized corporate offices).

Yes, Jesus did get dirty and we should too. We should work with crap but not eat crap nor become crap. Good thoughts!

John and Matthias , if you're not up to your knees in sh-t within the next 2 weeks touching a dirty and hurting world with Christ's love and glory, the thoughts were not revolutionary [producing a sudden, complete, or marked change] at all; instead they were just a small bother that the passing of time, an enjoyable night of dancing and a can of root beer can help you forget and therefore harden your heart even more.

James 1:22 - What are you going to do about it? :)

AGAIN... Love you guys. Keep on thinking and more than that, put them thoughts into action.



An after thought:

"light, as always, light makes it beautiful"

The artwork would not have been beautiful if the crucifix had been black. The white crucifix reflected the light and colors, shining gloriously. A black one would have hidden in the filth, absorbing the light and reflecting nothing.

The same applies to us. If we are not light in a dark world, how will anybody see Christ's glory?

Again, what are you going to do about it? :O

Mr. Rutledge's also said to me in a note:

What are YOU going to do? Offending others with “controversial blogging” has no value and will require apologies if YOU are not changed. You must live out in practical daily application the insight God has given you through Mr. Andrew Hudgins.

What he says is true. It is so easy to write the words, but following them is harder. What am I going to do about it?

That's a good question.

We have grown used to beauty without horror.
-Andrew Hudgins

I bet that caught your attention.

Yep, it does say that word up there. Yep, I have a reason. No, college is not making me lose my faith.

I've felt like I needed to blog for a very long time. If you'll notice, I have not blogged for half a year. I've been at a loss as to what to blog about. Sure, I could go ahead and tell another funny story about my life, but I don't really want to. Today as I was walking back from the art building, I was pondering several things that I have been tossing around in my head. My thoughts have somewhat come to a culmination today because of a man, a poet named Andrew Hudgins, who is the keynote speaker for this weekend's writing conference that my school, John Brown University, is hosting. Mr. Hudgins is a bit of a controversial writer in Christian circles, probably because he makes people feel uncomfortable. I had the pleasure of having lunch with him, several other authors (including Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River), and some of my classmates. During our conversation, I was able to observe Mr. Hudgins' deep wisdom and devotion to Christ.

Let me cue you in on my recent thought process. First, here is a quote:

"God calls Christians to be in the world, but not of it. But, I observe modern Christians doing the exact opposite. They're of the world, but not in it."

That was said by Terry Mattingly, president of The Washington Journalism Center, when he spoke in chapel last semester. That quote got to me. It's so true, us Christians have our own versions of everything: music, films, books, etc. Then, we have really conservative Christians who do an excellent job of not being of the world; but, they aren't in the world either. They live in their own little Christian boxes, surrounded by their Christian friends, claiming that they're living for God but ignoring the world around them. I don't doubt their commitment to Christ, but it seems they miss the point. So, in fact, the vast majority of Christians do not follow Jesus' command to be in the world but not of it. Myself included.

Secondly, I've been tossing around the idea of the "ideal Christian." You know what I'm talking about, the Christian stereotype of having to look and act a certain way. The un-spoken, but much implied rules of no piercings, no tattoos, no swearing, no weird hair cuts or hair colors, and on it goes. The ideal Christian family that glosses over the other family member who is gay, or is pregnant out of wedlock, or has had an abortion. The people in our lives who have done the unmentionable non-christian things. The ones who, when asked about, we say, "Oh, that's Bob's uncle, but we don't talk about him" and then shoot the universal 'he's a bad person' look that all Christians understand. I have problems with this. I have major problems with the ideal Christian stereotype. I've lived with it most of my life. Not from my parents, but from the people around me. Who did Jesus look like? Who did Jesus hang out with? I have another question, where does Jesus, or the other inspired writers of the Bible, tell us what we have to look like? What do they say about who we are allowed to talk about, or hang out with, or listen to? Yes, I'm aware of the verses that give guidelines for life, such as Colossians 3:8:

"But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."

But, I'm talking about the gray areas here, the areas that Christians have been disagreeing about for years. What makes language filthy? Is piss a filthy word? What about fuck? Obviously there are contexts where those words are filthy; but, all language, every single word, can be filthy. Very filthy.

I'm not being rebellious. I'll lay that down right now. Ok? I'm not going out clubbing, and drinking, and partying. I'm not partaking of all the pleasures that are out there. I don't have questionable friends. These thoughts that I am presenting are what I've been thinking about. They really don't even pertain to me in a direct way. I am living at a Christian college in a fairly controlled Christian bubble. But, thankfully, at John Brown University, they don't dictate how we're allowed to think. They challenge us, and let us think for ourselves. That's what I'm doing.

Finally, this is what I saw today:


This is a piece of artwork by an artist named Andres Serrano. It has won awards. When you look at it, it's rather beautiful, isn't it? This piece of art is named Piss Christ. The artist spent weeks collecting his urine, cow urine, and cow blood. Then, he poured the liquids together and submerged a crucifix in them. Sacrilegious? Probably.

Now, read this poem. It is by the gentleman that I mentioned earlier, Andrew Hudgins. He wrote it after observing Mr. Serrano's artwork.

Piss Christ

If we did not know it was cow's blood and urine,
if we did not know that Serrano had for weeks
hoarded his urine in a plastic vat,
if we did not know the cross was gimcrack plastic,
we would assume it was too beautiful.
We would assume it was the resurrection,
glory, Christ transformed to light by light
because the blood and urine burn like a halo,
and light, as always, light makes it beautiful.

We are born between the urine and the feces,
Augustine says, and so was Christ, if there was a Christ,
skidding into this world as we do
on a tide of blood and urine. Blood, feces, urine—
what the fallen world is made of, and what we make.
He peed, ejaculated, shat, wept, bled—
bled under Pontius Pilate, and I assume
the mutilated god, the criminal,
humiliated god, voided himself
on the cross and the blood and urine smeared his legs
and he ascended bodily unto heaven,
and on the third day he rose into glory, which
is what we see here, the Piss Christ in glowing blood:
the whole irreducible point of the faith,
God thrown in human waste, submerged and shining.

We have grown used to beauty without horror.

We have grown used to useless beauty.

Makes you think, doesn't it? Read those last two lines again. "We have grown used to beauty without horror. We have grown used to useless beauty." This poem was met with the same outrage as the piece artwork. But, seriously, when we dig down past our romanticized, perfect, spotless Christianity, this poem is true. Jesus got dirty.

We need to get dirty.

We need to live in the world.